Re: Airport Security Cost The US the 2016 Olympics

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: Stewart Baker <stewart.baker () gmail com>
Date: October 3, 2009 7:43:02 PM EDT
To: dave () farber net
Subject: Re: [IP] Airport Security Cost The US the 2016 Olympics

Two posts I put up earlier today on this notion:

Blaming DHS for Copenhagen?

President Obama isn't used to personal failures, especially when it's
a question of winning over foreigners.  So when Chicago was tossed out
in the first round, it had to hurt.  Now, will he blame DHS?

There's a minicampaign to make sure that happens.  A Pakistani IOC
member asked about the "harrowing" process of getting into the US, and
the President himself fielded the question.  President Obama made his
by-now-familiar appeal to America at its best, saying “One of the
legacies I want to see is a reminder that America at its best is open
to the world.”

If the President takes his loss in Copenhagen personally, and he
might, there are plenty of people hoping that he'll take it out on
DHS.  The New York Times is enthusiastic about placing the blame on US
border controls, and so is the US travel industry.

“It’s clear the United States still has a lot of work to do to restore
its place as a premier travel destination,” Roger Dow, U.S. Travel’s
president, said in the statement released today. “When IOC members are
commenting to our President that foreign visitors find traveling to
the United States a ‘pretty harrowing experience,’ we need to take
seriously the challenge of reforming our entry process to ensure there
is a welcome mat to our friends around the world, even as we ensure a
secure system.”

No matter who's in the White House, the first rule is always this:
When bad things happen it's never the President's fault; somebody else
screwed up.  I'm sure that the President was offered the easy story
that he lost because of border security no later than the flight home.
Whether he buys it will tell us a lot about him and his commitment to
security.

The President will either take the hit from Copenhagen and move on
because he sees border security measures as too important to mess with
or he will let DHS take the hit under White House Rule No. 1.  It's a
hard choice -- between accepting a nick in the President's reputation
and risking a dilution of border security.  That's why it will tell us
something about him -- because policymaking only matters when hard
choices are made.

http://www.skatingonstilts.com/skating-on-stilts/2009/10/blaming-dhs-for-copenhagen.html

Who is Syed Shahid Ali?

He's the IOC member who asked about the "harrowing" experience of
entering the United States.  Some are already seeing him as the Voice
of the World, condemning America for its arrogance in trying to
protect US borders.  But it's worth remembering that the IOC
membership represents, well, the IOC members.

When Uday Hussein ran the Iraqi sports program, he was its top
Olympics official.  In fact, when presented with evidence that Hussein
was torturing Iraqi athletes who disappointed him, the IOC stalled
until the U.S. invasion made the point moot.  Here's what Sports
Illustrated said about the lackadaisical IOC investigation when a
complaint was filed about Uday's practices:

"Attached to the complaint were sworn statements from several Iraqi
athletes detailing torture and imprisonment on orders from Uday. In
February the IOC agreed to investigate Uday's behavior. As of last
week, however, none of the athletes who had given sworn statements for
the INDICT complaint had been contacted by the IOC.

"IOC president Jacques Rogge acknowledged last week that his
organization received the complaint and says it is in the hands of the
ethics committee. But IOC member Richard Pound says that it is
"important to remember these are just allegations, and you have to
make sure this is not all tied to the Iraq-U.S. dispute, that we are
not being used for propaganda. You just never know.""

Sounds right.  In the IOC, "you just never know" about this sort of
thing.  But you always know about the United States.  Because in the
weird world of IOC politics, the worst thing that has happened in
living memory was the impertinent US criminal investigation into
bribery of IOC officials in the award of the Winter Olympics to Salt
Lake City.

And Syed Shahid Ali certainly seems to be bearing a grudge.  The LA
Times quoted him back in 1999 as evidence that IOC members were
bitter, angry, and unreconciled to the way the US investigation had
broken in on their clubby world.  In Ali's view, the whole thing
should have been blamed instead on the "Satanic" inducements offered
by Salt Lake City and its backers:

Perhaps most important, it remains unclear how many delegates are
genuinely committed to real change, or whether an overwhelming
majority simply opted Sunday to bow to Samaranch for the moment--for
their remarks revealed a group bubbling with members who sound angry,
frustrated, even bitter.

Some are still pointing fingers, such as Syed Shahid Ali of Pakistan,
who decried the "satanic chores [used] to mislead some of our
members." He explained later that he was referring to the inducements
offered in Salt Lake.

So maybe the Obama Administration's rebuke wasn't payback for Bush
Administration security rules.  Maybe it was payback for the Clinton
Administration's criminal investigation.  Hold your breath waiting for
that theory to show up in print.

http://www.skatingonstilts.com/skating-on-stilts/2009/10/who-is-syed-shahid-ali.html

On 10/3/09, David Farber <dave () farber net> wrote:
> Begin forwarded message:
>
> From: Labmanager <labmanager () gmail com>
> Date: October 2, 2009 9:50:16 PM EDT
> To: dave () farber net
> Subject: Airport Security Cost The US the 2016 Olympics
>
> http://intransit.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/10/02/chicagos-loss-is-passport-control-to-blame/
>
> "Among the toughest questions posed to the Chicago bid team this week
> in Copenhagen was one that raised the issue of what kind of welcome
> foreigners would get from airport officials when they arrived in this
> country to attend the Games. Syed Shahid Ali, an I.O.C. member from
> Pakistan, in the question-and-answer session following Chicago’s
> official presentation, pointed out that entering the United States can
> be “a rather harrowing experience.”"
>
>
>
>
> -------------------------------------------
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--
Stewart Baker
o: 202-429-6402
c: 202-641-8670




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